Aoi arrived at his house. He could remember its location clearly, but the appearance of the house was totally different.
When he was twenty-five, he became the sole owner of the house.
The house held a blooming business of baking cakes, causing the house to be filled with people.
It was a bit massive since the back contained the structure of the house, while the front was a space for his parents' bakeshop.
The design of the shop was whimsical, with playful colors and decorations, and it had been maintained constantly by her mother, working as a waitress while his father was a pastry chef.
Of course, they also had hired enough staff, especially those who aspire to become a pastry chef, to support their popular business.
It was also widely recognized as the best cake shop in the Yakumatsunai Prefecture.
As a result, almost every day and hour, they had been visited by many people who loved to eat inside the shop or just bought it for their loved ones.
However, five years later, his parents unfortunately met their demise in a traffic collision, killing almost fifty people.
It was a changing point in Aoi's life. He did not inherit the knowledge and experience of their baking tradition, not even his little sister, whose interest leaned more toward music.
Aoi received the savings of his parent's money, but even then, that was almost expended on their burial, and the rest was spent on his little sisters' education outside of the Yakumatsunai Prefecture.
Aoi was forced to apply as a salesman, receiving a wage barely enough for himself and to support his little sisters' education after he graduated from college.
The cake shop was closed, even though the previous workers, who memorized and could bake his family's cake recipe, offered they could continue the business in his stead.
Aoi could not be bothered. He was so deeply depressed that he rejected them without hesitation.
Although he asked them if they could continue baking his family's recipe, even if it might be claimed by other cake shops, he only firmly believed in the idea that his family's recipe would not die in history.
At that point, he began to regret not learning how to bake cake.
If only…
If only he knew, he could have inherited the family tradition of baking cake. By then, he would not have been swallowed by deep regret.
He would have avoided staring at the dark ceiling every night, raising endless "what ifs" in his mind until he suddenly returned to the past.
He would not have been the type of person to try to socialize with people, to please them, even though he was an introvert himself, just for the sake of earning money.
He would have just isolated himself at the back of the cake shop, baking cake without bothering anyone or being bothered, just focusing on designing the cake in solace.
He seriously regretted not learning how to bake a cake, and so was isolating himself in his room, grinding in a game that provided him no good for his future.
'It's still not too late…'
Aoi suddenly said to himself.
As much as he badly wanted to become the best striker, he would not want to forget about his previous desire to become a pastry chef… that was also too late to manifest.
Even if he did not end up as a pastry chef in the future, at least he knew and had experience baking his family's cake recipe and could still continue his family business, even though he could now prevent his parents' demise.
He could even use his popularity as the best striker to spread his family's bakeshop around the world.
Suddenly, the already rooted desire in his heart sprouted, producing another leaf, signifying another of his desires that was also connected to the main.
At this point, the leaf slowly cleansed the heavy guilt weighing on his heart, causing Aoi to finally breathe normally.
However, due to the extreme melancholy he felt, a tear inevitably crawled out of his right eyelid, slithering to his cheek.
He was awakened by the startling sensation.
"Am I…" He uttered under his breath.
He wiped the tears from his eyes, and finally, when the blurry vision returned to normal, he saw a woman staring at him inside the cake shop through the window in shock.
At this point, the already drop of the ocean-sized tears became a wave, continuously streaming from his eyes to his cheeks.
He had to use two hands to constantly wipe the tears while trying to constrain his hurt ego from guilt-striking him when he imagined his mother seeing him in this state.
He remained standing outside of the cake shop for a while. He was inconspicuous due to the garden on the side maintained by his mother.
Furthermore, there were only five or more people inside the cake shop at most, having a date or enjoying their alone time while focusing on themselves.
There was only a single person who noticed his presence, and that was his mother.
Hoping his sorry state was not noticed by his mother, he continued to let his emotions go wild for a while, silently weeping while constantly wiping the tears from his eyes.
Suddenly, time passed, and he did not notice how Aoi felt a warm hug pulling him to the unknown's embrace.
Aoi could not know who the person was embracing him out of the blue, but he could feel it.
It was familiar, instilling in him a lukewarm feeling…
Suddenly, Aoi imagined the time he was a baby and was first held by her mother's arm.
It calmed a crying Aoi, feeling like it was the safest place to live.
When was the last time he received a hug from her mother?
Before he went to high school?
Before he realized he was already an adult and did not need, what he thought, cringe interactions like a hug and kisses on the cheeks from his mother.
'What a foolish thought!'
When he was nearing his thirties, how long did he desire to receive an embrace from his mother, who already ceased to live, just to receive her praise?
"You did well! That's my child!"
Those words constantly appeared in his dreams, unknowingly forcing him to smile in delight in his sleep.
Now that his dreams turned out to be reality once again, he returned a hug to his mother and simply wept on her shoulder.
He was tall, after all.
"Why is my child crying?" Her mother's tone caused him to shiver. "Have you been fighting well? Don't hold back. You need to pour it out."
And so… Aoi did not hold back.
Even though it was not an egoistic behavior to show…